Minor Moves: Paterson, Nash, Parker, Cerse, Bell, Ryan

Here are the latest minor transactions, with the newest moves at the top of the post…

Lefty Joe Paterson has reached a minor league deal with the Athletics, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Paterson, who just turned 29, had opened the year at Triple-A in the Royals organization after spending his previous seasons with the Giants and Diamondbacks. He threw 40 1/3 innings of 6.25 ERA ball for Arizona at the major league level. This season, he has tossed 12 2/3 frames at the highest level of the minors, striking out 12 and walking six while permitting eight earned runs.

The Astros released 2009 third-round pick Telvin Nash, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Nash, 24, was repeating Double-A this year and owned a .228/.318/.456 slash with seven home runs over 130 plate appearances. Despite generally excellent power numbers and solid walk rates, Nash has been unable to avoid the strikeout. He has spent most of his time at first or in the corner outfield.

The Cubs re-signed right-hander Blake Parker to a new minor league contract, team director of player development Jaron Madison tells Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register (Twitter link). Parker was released by the Cubs earlier this month. The righty posted a 3.68 ERA, 10.4 K/9 and 3.54 K/BB rate over 73 1/3 innings out of Chicago’s bullpen from 2012-14, but he’s been limited to only 3 1/3 Triple-A innings this season due to an elbow injury.

Also from Eddy, the Padres released third baseman Josh Bell. The 28-year-old signed a minor league deal with San Diego in February but has yet to see any action in 2015. Bell appeared in 100 games with the Orioles and D’Backs from 2010-12 and has since played in the minors with the White Sox and Yankees, as well as spending 2014 in the Korean Baseball Organization.

The Yankees moved shortstop Brendan Ryan from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL and also optioned righty Branden Pinder to Triple-A. Both moves created 25-man roster space to accommodate newly-promoted southpaw Jacob Lindgren. Ryan suffered a calf injury during Spring Training and isn’t expected back in action until early June.

Agreed, he’s the first Yankee to debut within a year of being drafted since ’89, and it’s nice to see it went well. I hope he sticks around for awhile and we get more of a look at him in the coming days.